Hermes
Hermes '''is the Greek god of roads, speed, messengers, commerce, travel, thieves, merchants, athletes, and mail deliverers. His Roman counterpart is '''Mercury. His symbol is the Caduceus. Hermes is portrayed by Nathan Fillion. History Hermes was born sometime after the first Titan War to Zeus and a Titaness named Maia. He matured rapidly and within a few minutes of his birth stole the cattle of Apollo and invented the lyre. He even thought of a clever way to cover up his crime: tying bundles of grass to the cows' feet and leading them backward out of the pasture to make it look like something had been led into the pasture, but not away from it. Despite this, Apollo found out and went to Zeus for justice. When brought before his father, Hermes attempted to charm Zeus into letting him go by telling him he was just an innocent new born baby. Undeceived, but amused by the child's boldness, Zeus instead forced him to compensate Apollo, which Hermes did by presenting him with the lyre. Hermes also traded the shepherd's pipe (another invention of his) to Apollo in exchange for his golden staff and knowledge of the art of prophecy. When he came of age, Hermes was made the messenger of the gods As the messenger of gods Hermes would often serve as the intermediary between the gods and the mortal world. He aided Odysseus against Circe and told Calypso to either let him go or face the wrath of Zeus. During the Trojan War he sided with the Trojans and delivered Zeus' order to return Hector's body to his father. Also in the Trojan War, Hermes and Apollo teamed up to help guide the arrow that killed Achilles, and Hermes helped Helen escape with the rest of the citizens of Troy when they were over run by the Greek armies. In other stories, Hermes gave a pair of his winged sandals to Perseus when Perseus went to behead Medusa. In some tales, he freed Zeus after the latter was initially defeated by Typhonand freed Ares from his imprisonment by the Alodai among numerous other feats. Personality In contrast to many of the other Olympians, Hermes is much more reasonable and helpful than the other major Olympian gods with a greater understanding of mortals. Hermes is not prone to the overt arrogance of some likeZeus or Ares, nor the character quirks like Apollo or Aphrodite. Part of this may be due to part of his job being to help mortals rationalize divine events giving him a greater understanding of things beyond himself. Sometimes, Hermes helps people to understand the things that covered with the Mist. He is shown to care a great deal for his children (especially Luke) and to be far more accepting of others. Both traits are not common among the other major Olympians. Hermes' visits are often beneficial to gods and demigods alike, and often help them out, though this is frequently at the request of another god or personal motivations. Hermes tends to be one of the more clever and cunning Olympians, as he tricked Argus into falling asleep and even outsmarted Apollo when he was a child. Since another one of Hermes' jobs is to guide the souls of the deceased into the Underworld, he is one of the few Olympians to be on good terms with Hades. However, Hermes can become very angry when crossed, or especially if someone implies that he does not care about his children. Nonetheless, Hermes takes his duties as a god very seriously, rather unlike Apollo and Dionysus, who take their duties and responsibilities in a much lighter manner. As a result, Hermes will not breach his divine duties, even to save his own children, since not even he can defy the Fates, as attempting to do so would only make matters worse. All in all, Hermes is by far one of the more reasonable and beneficial Olympians. Appearance He is described as appearing to resemble a middle-aged man with an athletic figure-slim and fit with salt-and-pepper hair, as a jogger and in his original form has a muscular build, curly black hair, blue eyes, elfish features, and a sly grin. He has been known to wear nylon running shorts and New York City Marathon T-shirt while jogging, an outfit similar to a mailman's when delivering mail with a pith helmet which sprout wings, and a suit. He carries a cell phone which turns into a caduceus. He has been known to sport winged shoes, as said in the books. When Hermes is furious, he has a furrowed brow, his eyes get steely cold, and his facial expression hardens like he'd "turned into marble." Mercury : Main article: Mercury Hermes can change into his Roman counterpart of Mercury. As Mercury, he becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike. He has children and perhaps descendants at Camp Jupiter in San Francisco. Abilities As a son of Zeus, Hermes is a very powerful god. * Strength: Hermes has great physical prowess, as shown in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, when he lifted Chelone's entire house, and hurled it at her, turning her into the first turtle. * Swordsmanship: as revealed in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Hermes received a mighty sword from his brother Apollo in exchange for his flute. The Sword of Hermes is made of adamantine and Imperial Gold, and is extremely sharp. This implies excellent swordsmanship skills on Hermes' part. Apparently, these skills were later inherited by Hermes' son Luke. * Several Enhanced Skills: Hermes is perhaps the most versatile Olympian to be the god of so many diverse things. For example: roads, shepherds, thieves, travellers, hospitality, heralds, diplomacy, trade, language, writing, etc. Because of all these skills, Hermes could be described as a Jack of all trades, a title Luke once used when describing the children of Hermes. * Enhanced Speed: As the god of travel and messengers, Hermes is extremely fast and can travel at supersonic speeds due to his winged shoes. * Transgressing Realms: As the Messenger of the gods, Hermes can freely go to the realm of any god without an invitation, including the Underworld, as it is his duty to guide newly deceased souls there. * Enhanced Thievery: As the god of thieves, Hermes has a supernatural way of stealing things without others noticing, even other Olympians, such as when he stole Apollo's cattle as a child in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods. * Lock Manipulation: Hermes can sense the internal structure and mechanisms of any lock he touches, and is always able to make it unlock. He can also do this telekinetically. * Lock Intuition: Hermes can instantly identify curses and traps placed on locks, and deactivate them. * Money Manipulation: Since Hermes is the god of merchants, he can easily manipulate money and the stock market. In The Diary of Luke Castellan, Hermes' son Luke is shown to have inherited this ability. * Athletics: As the god of athletics, Hermes has a naturally enhanced athletic ability. * Inventions: Hermes is an unbelievable inventor only surpassed by his half-brother Hephaestus. Hermes even claims to have invented the Internet. * Ancient Greek Alchemy: According to Luke in The Diary of Luke Castellan, Hermes is a very adept alchemist. Hermes' proficiency in is connected with his "Hermes Trismegistus"(Hermes Thrice-Greatest) title. * Power of Persuasion: In The Lost Hero, Annabeth mentions that Hermes can be "very convincing," but whether or not this is similar to Aphrodite's charmspeak is unknown. * Cleverness: Hermes has shown his cleverness by easily outsmarting his elder brother Apollo and stealing his cattle. * Hermes also possesses divine wisdom, although Zeus, Athena, and Apollo surpass him. * Prophecy: as revealed in Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Hermes persuaded his brother Apollo to teach him the art of prophecy. While Hermes cannot predict the future supernaturally, he can do so by throwing dice. This might have been how Hermes knew some of Luke's fate. Attributes Hermes' attributes are his Caduceus, winged sandals, winged golden helmet, and his mighty golden sword. According to Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, the Sword of Hermes is made of adamantium and Imperial Gold, and is extremely sharp. Though the Caduceus, sandals, and sword initially belonged to Apollo, he, admittedly, never used them, and readily gave them to Hermes in exchange for his younger brother's lyre and flute. Hermes' sacred animal is the ram. Children Hermes has many children and all undetermined children go to Cabin #11 as explained by Luke in The Lightning Thief. His most mentioned child is Luke, who he loved very much, as seen in The Last Olympian when he blessed Luke and kissed his forehead before having the Three Fates carry off his dead body. Poseidon also told Percy in The Titan's Curse, that Hermes loved Luke so much up to the point that Luke became Hermes' pride and joy. Greek Demigod Children * Luke Castellan (deceased) (with May Castellan) * Connor Stoll * Travis Stoll * Chris Rodriguez * Cecil * Autolycus * Gus * Harriet Tubman (deceased) * Aethalides * Other Hermes Cabin members Roman Demigod Children * Jack London (deceased) * Unnamed Son of Mercury mentioned by Ma Gasket in The Lost Hero (deceased) * Possibly more unnamed children and legacies. Immortal Children * Hermaphroditus (with Aphrodite) * Pan (with Dryope, an Arcadian nymph; faded) Legacies * Odysseus: Grandson to his son Autolycus. * Jason: Grandson to his son Autolycus. Symbol of Power : Main article: Caduceus A caduceus that Hermes usually keeps in phone form. It has two intertwined snakes named George and Martha, who can extend to full form when the caduceus is completely extended, possibly from George Washington and his wife Martha Dandridge Washington, or more likely from the two main characters of the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," a married couple who are frequently venomous towards each other. It is also his symbol of power. Trivia * Hermes is the only god that can travel between the Underworld, Olympus, and the mortal world freely. * Hermes is mentioned in the book The Red Pyramid, also by Rick Riordan, the first book in The Kane Chronicles. Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, mentioned that the Greeks had mixed him and Hermes up, and noted that he is nothing like Hermes, and quoted "if you ever met Hermes," hinting that the two series take place in the same world. He was also the only Greek god to be mentioned in the series. * The caduceus is often confused with the Staff of Asclepius, which is a sign of healing, whilst the caduceus is not. * Hermes is the fastest Olympian god. * There are no known daughters of Hermes that are in Cabin 11, though at the end of The Last Olympian, Hermes does mention that he has two demigod daughters in Los Angeles, and Harriet Tubman was mentioned by Chiron to be a daughter of Hermes. * As he is the god of invention, Hermes claims that he invented the Internet. * Despite the bubble wrap Annabeth finds in The Mark of Athena being exactly what she needs, it is unknown how long ago Hermes left the box there, if he left it there intentionally at all. * Hermes' proficiency in Alchemy is connected with his other form known as 'Hermes Trismegistus '(Hermes Thrice-Greatest) which is a form shared with Egyptian god Thoth. * In the Blood of Olympus Hermes is seen after the battle with the Giants in Athens, trying to put his arm around Athena. The annoyed goddess scares him off with her Aegis shield, perhaps hinting at a one-sided romantic attachment.